The Best Thing I Never Knew I Needed
by reemarie36
Summary: Clary is a junior at Idris Alicante University, everything in her college life seems perfect, in fact too perfect. What happens when her seemingly perfect world begins to slowly upturn itself? Please read and please be nice...just kidding, be real and let me know the truth!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey fellow fanfictioners! Hope u all had a happy happy turkey day yesterday! Any who, I know I'm not finished with my first fanfic, and I promise to update 'Picking up the Pieces' later today. I just had this idea for another story, and needed to get it down…..If I get enough positive reviews/feedback (because you don't HAVE to review, but u can PM me) than I may just follow through with this story. So that being said, updates probably won't be consistent, unless you all want them to be….**

**Happy reading my dearies!**

"Morning beautiful… Get enough sleep?"

I groan unattractively in response.

"Come on, we have a meeting in about an hour, that and Tess and Maia won't stop calling my cell looking for you…"

"Unless you have," I stop as soon as he shoves the cup of coffee towards me. "Thanks," I mumble.

"Anytime," he replies with a wink.

"What's the meeting for?"

"Did you forget?" I shrug at him. "Rush week is in 2 ½ weeks. We all have to prepare. Oh and I believe, YOU had mentioned hazing the newbies with the upcoming sweetheart formal. I can't believe you forgot…. You are possibly the worst person to have in charge," he says laughing and dodging a pillow I throw at him.

"Whatever! That's why I have you, duh! My very handy right hand man!"

"You still plan on hazing your girls by making them ask my newbies as dates?"

"No, well I don't know, probably. I was thinking to make them choose a newbie from your group, but now I'm not sure. What if I make them ask the guys who are already members? Make them wait on their dates hand and foot before the actual event?" I ask his advice sneakily.

"That's actually a good idea. I'll make my boys do the same with you girls."

"Well make sure the guys don't take it easy on em, but strictly PG. We'll set ground rules later, but at least we have a plan to set up rules for now."

"This year's gonna be a good year I believe. Are you as excited about being president as a junior as I am? Who would have thought; you and me Frat presidents!"

"I can't believe I was even nominated, first of all. And I'm pretty sure our relationship gave me the head start on Aline."

"Please, everyone loves you. If anything you helped me with getting nominated."

As we were conversing I had made my way out of the bed and into my jeans and sweater.

"Well, I do believe, Mr. Lightwood, that we have many ways to keep on benefitting each other," I say seductively while leaning over him in his arm chair.

"Haha, Clary. Always teasing," he says as he lowers me into his lap.

"I aim to tease! But I really should go."

I get up and grab my messenger bag, and pop my Mac book inside, and head for the door.

"I'll see you in a bit. Here, don't forget this," he says as he hands me his letterman jacket, and kisses the top of my head.

"Oh yeah," I shrug it on over my current sweater. "Thanks Alec. See ya."

As I make my way down the stairs into the foyer, I hear his frat brothers shouting 'walk of shame' and laughing. I wave bye to them, not taking offense because they'd always teased us that way since our freshman year. You see, Alec and I re-met during rush week of our freshman year. I was pledging for Iota Zeta Iota, and he was pledging for Alpha Kappa Sigma (A/N not totally familiar with Greek frats, but its fiction, so go with it...lol). My sorority and his fraternity were the top two houses on campus. Idris Alicante University was known for its frat houses, and we made sure to make our dean proud, because if she wasn't we wouldn't have a chance to have the fun we wanted to have throughout the year.

My Sorority was the top at IAU on academics, athletics and philanthropy. Alec's was at the top based on academics, athletics and networking. We both also are heavy on socializing, we throw the best parties, have the best study groups and not to mention, each member is an A student and each play a sport of some sort. I just so happen to be the captain of the swim team, and was made captain of the cheer/dance squad when I won the president chair of our house. My VP was my best friend Tessa, who I went to some elementary, junior high and high school with. Maia completed our trio as our Secretary. She's also been our best friend since I was in the eighth grade; she is a year younger than both Tessa and me. We were all on the cheer/dance squad, but where I was on the swim team, Maia was on the softball team and Tessa was on the golf team. Our house was one of the biggest on campus competing in size with the Alpha's. Most of our members had their own room; of course newbies were made to bunk with each other, two to a room. The alphas are the same way with their newbies, so I don't feel so bad about it. If anything it helps us bond as sorority sisters, and them as frat brothers; being new and all.

As for Alec and me, we've been dating since the end of our first semester of our freshman year. But we did happen to know each other long before that. We knew each other in grade school up until we were about 9 years old and I moved from New York to a small town in Rhode Island. Tessa was my first and only friend when I moved there, and since my mom travelled a lot for work, her parents always let me stay with them, so we were more like sisters before we got here. My dad lived in upstate New York, and I hadn't seen him since the divorce, although he sends me gifts on my birthdays and Christmas. He's also paid my college tuition in full, even though I was offered a full ride scholarship through swimming. So even though he's not around physically, he still lets me know he hasn't forgotten about me. My brother Jonathan was in an all boy's boarding school when my parent's got divorced, so I only saw him every other holiday because he chose to stay with my dad during his other school breaks. Even though we rarely seen each other, we still had a good relationship. He now owns his own very successful company, at the age of 23 called Morgenstern Industries, where he buys, trades, and sells businesses.

Now, back to Alec and me; like I mentioned we were friends before as kids. He, his twin sister and I were thick as thieves. We did everything together, so when I had to move we all took it pretty hard. We had kept in touch for the first few months, but eventually stopped talking. What can I say, we were 9. So imagine my surprise when I seen him in the newbie line for the Alpha's during rush week? I couldn't get over how tall and built he was; he still had the same almost black hair and striking blue eyes. I was hoping Issy was with him, but he said she went to some university in southern California. We caught up and talked throughout that whole first night as we walked around campus. It turns out that a year after I moved his parents adopted his cousin who was a year older than us. I remember seeing him only a handful of times when he'd visit them, but he never really played with us. Unfortunately his parents died in a plane crash on their way to Paris for their anniversary. I asked Alec if he was going to IAU also, but the guy, Jace, was accepted at Ol' Miss on a football scholarship. Because Jace had moved here from London, his academics differed from the states so they had started him in the same grade as Alec and Issy to help with his transition. Alec was here at IAU on an academic scholarship, which he probably didn't need either. His parents were pretty loaded and I'm sure they were more than willing to pay for their son's education.

During rush week and our hazing, Alec and I grew very close. We had went to our first formal together and he asked me to be his sweetheart in front of everyone; the entire crowd. Romantic, right? Well of course our house president's adored us so much because they permanently renamed the first years formal, to 'the sweetheart's formal'. We were the campus's cutest couple from what we were always being told. He was tall, creamy skin, dark hair, blue eyes, and beautiful smile. I wasn't so bad myself, very short, but curvy in the right places, long thick curly red hair, big round green eyes, and creamy skin that matched Alec's. Everyone who was anyone knew who we were, but the nice thing about college is that no one is mean about anything here. I'm pretty involved with campus events as well as sorority events; I'm even in a band, and we perform for every frat party there is. Alec is my number one fan, he always says how it's sexy to have a girlfriend who can sing and play guitar. He was always sweet on me, and I loved him for it.

Now, even though I love him, I'm not in love with him. That's right, I said it. He isn't either, trust me, we have discussed this. To the outside world, we were the perfect couple, but to him and me, we were just really good friends. We only stayed the night with each other occasionally, one, for appearances, and two, because we just liked each other's company. Confusing? Let me lay it on thick, ALEC IS GAY. He told me a few months into our relationship, I actually had to force it out of him. He made me promise to not tell a soul, and to this day, I have kept it and always will. He was afraid that he would be treated differently if anyone knew, and me being the good friend that I am, I told him that we could just keep it between us, and let people think we were still in a relationship if he wanted to. He was ecstatic about my idea, and that's how we've been ever since. There was also the plus that none of the other guys here bothered to give me a second look because to them, I was Alec Lightwood's girl. I was definitely okay with that, my education meant more to me than having a boyfriend. I honestly believe them to be too much of a distraction. So to the outside world, we were going on an almost 3 year strong relationship, and to us, well we couldn't have been dealt a better hand.

When I walk into the house, I'm bombarded by Tessa and Maia.

"Where on earth have you been?" Tessa shrieked, obviously freaking out because we may be a little late for the meeting.

"Seriously, Tess. I really hope that was a rhetorical question," Maia said as she looked at me laughing.

"Ladies, I'm almost ready. Just let me put on something a little more presentable," I said laughing at both of them as I ran upstairs.

Five minutes later I was out the door with my girls flanking me, wearing a white blazer over a pink lacey tank top, over some stone washed skinny jeans and nude flats. We actually made it to the assembly hall with minutes to spare. The other frat houses were already there, except one. Damn Omegas, they were always late. I truly think they were only chartered for the partying. I go to sit in the front along with the other presidents, and next to Alec. We go over the events for rush week, and inform everyone where they can set up their sign up areas. The rest of the meeting was more of a lecture from our dean about why we should rush specific candidates, but to make sure people weren't left out due to socializing issues. I actually respected our dean, she was stern, but still had a soft spot for fun; however, don't expect to see her mingling with us students. After this meeting, Alec and I decided to inform our houses tonight about the rules of engagement for the sweetheart formal that we're going to host together.

Back at the house, the girl's took the updates of rush week pretty well. The hazing for our newbies was another story.

"What do you mean, the newbies aren't asking each other to the formal?" Kaelie shrieked.

"Some of us have Alpha boyfriends, what if they ask them?" Aline asked crossing her arms.

"Well let's see, most of us are going to be assigned a little sister, and the rest of us who aren't assigned one will be helping each other out in guiding them. All we have to do is to make sure the girls know that there are boundaries and also, the Alpha's know that there isn't any flirting allowed. Hence, if one of our little sister's do ask one of our boyfriends, than just make sure you/we are supervising at all times. Same goes for the boys, I believe they will be asking some of you."

"Can we decline?" Maia asked. Her boyfriend was the VP of the Alpha's and I was pretty sure she didn't want another guy hanging around her, especially another girl hanging around Jordan.

"It's up to you, and if you'd like we can make sure that we let them know who is and who isn't single. Satisfied?"

That made them a little happier, and with that our meeting was adjourned.

Rush week came faster than I expected, but fortunately we were more than prepared.

"Hey Clary, can we talk?" Alec said jogging to our booth.]

"Sure, my shift is about done, but I have to come back in an hour. What's up?"

"I just got news that Max's lab results weren't good," he said sadly. Max was his little brother who was 11. He'd had leukemia at the age of 5, but had been in recession for almost 3 years now.

"Oh no. I'm so sorry Alec," I said as I hugged him. I had only met Max once, but he was a character. He seemed so much older for his age that I couldn't believe we had a 10 year gap in age. Maryse and Robert had surprised Alec for a campus visit once 2 years ago with Max, and of course I was introduced as Alec's girlfriend. I hate to say, but his dad seemed a little too happy about Alec having a girlfriend, and of course I was more than aware of why.

"He's going to be getting another bone marrow transplant soon, so I'm hoping he'll be okay. But that's not exactly what I wanted to discuss with you. You see, because of this, my sister and brother want to be closer to home, so they're transferring here. I was hoping you'd let Issy rush for your sorority, and make her your little sister if she makes it in."

"Of course I would. When will they be here?"

"They should be arriving sometime soon. I'm sorry I didn't mention anything sooner, but I've had a lot on my mind with Max."

"Are you going to be taking a leave of absence from school?"

"No, we're only an hour away from his children's hospital, so I'll be here."

"Well if you need to road trip with anyone, let me know and I'll drop everything."

He pulled me in for a hug and kissed my cheek. "Thank you Clary. For everything. Oh, and one last thing, Issy and Jace aren't aware of, you know, me or our mutual agreement," he whispered to me

"Okay, do you think they'll notice anything?" I whispered back.

"I don't know to be honest. But we have to be careful, okay?"

"Careful about what?" I heard a female voice approaching.

"Isabelle?" I asked in shock. The girl seriously walked off a runway, lustrous black hair, beautiful almond shaped brown eyes, and cheek bones to kill. Her teal maxi dress and tan sandals made her all the more appealing.

"The one and only! How the hell have you been Clary?!" We ran to each other and hugged. "So Alec told me that I had to rush to hang out with you guys. Where do I sign up?"

"You're in luck. My booth is right over here, do you play any sports?"

"I used to do cheer, but not since high school."

"Well we're cheer during football and basketball, but we are also a dance team; are you against trying out for it again? There's also golf, swim, softball, soccer, volleyball, and any other sport that requires balls."

"Oh, wow, so to rush, I have to deal with balls?" We cracked up into laughter with that.

"Not for swim or cheer… But yes for my members, we have to be involved in athletics."

"I could do cheer and dance. Will you show me where to sign up for that too?"

"You're in luck, I just so happen to be the captain," I say to her with a wink, earning a incredulous look from her. As we were talking we were heading over to my sorority's booth. "Welcome to my sign up booth. Tessa here is my VP, and Maia there is our Secretary, and little ol me, well I just so happen to be the president of Iota Zeta Iota."

"I-Z-I? As in IZZIE! This was meant to be! My nickname is the same as your sorority name!"

We all laughed, and gave Issy her paper work to fill out. As she did that I made my way back over to Alec.

"I think she'll fit in just fine," I say smiling to him.

Before he responds he wraps me in his arms by my waist and kisses me on my lips. For a second I hesitate, but then I place my hand on his cheek and my other around his neck. After he releases, I look at him questioningly.

"That's great," he responds. "I have someone else for you to meet. You may not remember him, but he hung around a few times. Jace, come here."

I look in the direction Alec just called to and before my eyes was the most beautiful sight to see. As Jace turned around and looked at us, I couldn't remember to breathe. He was gorgeous, beautifully sculpted from the heavens above. His hair literally shined in the sunlight, with eye's a shimmering shade of tawny to match the blonde strands. Before he got to close, and before Alec noticed, I let out the breath that I knew I was holding.

"Hey, I just finished that paperwork. Do they really care about my interests, or do they HAVE to ask that?" He said as he chuckled. And my gosh, was it a sexy chuckle!

"Unfortunately, yes we do care. And I wanted you to meet Clarissa Fray, my girlfriend."

"Hi, please call me Clary," I say as I put my hand out to shake his.

"Oh, wow, so this is her? You're you? Wow, it's nice to finally meet you!" he exclaims as he pulls me in for a hug. Oh my gosh he smells amazing too! I lightly hug him back not wanting to feel rude, but I notice how good it feels to be wrapped in his arms. "Mom and dad won't shut up about you two," he says releasing me. "I swear, they are waiting for you to graduate to start planning the wedding!"

"Really?" I ask surprised that I made that much of an impression.

"Seriously, they won't get off my back about finding someone like you," he smiles sincerely at me now.

"Um, well thank you? I think."

"Oh trust me, it's a compliment. Hey Alec, is it cool if I still stay with you tonight?" I start to turn away because of the blush invading my face.

"Yeah, of course. Clary, you're still coming over later?" Alec asks me.

"If that's okay. But I have to get back to my booth, I'm gonna make sure Issy's, um, well, you know. See you later?"

Instead of answering, he leans down for another kiss, which I immediately reciprocate. But it just didn't feel okay anymore with Jace RIGHT there. Oh no, was I that dimwitted to have a crush on someone that sexy? And of course, he just so happens to be my fake-boyfriends brother. So much for a good year, I guess…..


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, are you ready for more? Please review, to let me know that you really are enjoying this story!**

CH 2

"Clary, we have a situation," whispered Maia, as I came back to our booth.

"Okay, what's going on?" I ask, a little confused.

"Clary, this is Magnus. He would like to rush for our sorority," Tess explained, as I made my way behind the table for our sign ups.

I looked at the boy in front of me, in a very peculiar manner. I didn't know what to make of him, he was an absolute hunk. He was probably about 6 foot tall, maybe a few inches to spare, and gorgeous. He had on a pair of well fitting Khaki pants, with a navy button down that was folded at the elbows and a pair of tan boat shoes. He looked as if he just walked off of a photo shoot for a yacht club. With his beautiful yellow green eyes, to his full plush lips, to his epicanthic folds in his eyes, not to mention he looks covered in bronzer, making his caramel skin shine; he was absolutely beautiful.

"Hi, my name is Clarissa, but you can call me Clary. I hear you're interested in rushing for IZI, what interests you?" I ask as I approach him.

"Well, my name is Magnus Bane. I have always wanted to be part of a sister hood. You see, Clary, I don't exactly swing your way, but would appreciate acceptance where I can find it," he says as he bows to me. "I would love to have the opportunity to share memories with those I see fit," he adds as-matter-of-factly.

"Well, Magnus is it?" he nods. "Our sorority consists of sisters; females," I reply, still interested in the beautiful creature before me.

"I understand, but if you could make an exception, it would greatly be appreciated. Plus, imagine you in a house full of boys whose bones you want to jump. It would be entirely inappropriate for me to pledge in an all male house," he replies, not giving up.

"Well, if you are truly interested in IZI, I don't see a problem in rushing; although, we do need to run the app past our Dean. If she is okay with this, than I will be as well. Is that going to be a problem?"

"Not at all. I look forward to being a part of your sister hood!"

I hand Magnus the required paperwork, unbiased; and he took it. We've never had a male actually apply for our sorority, but I have read the rule book more than enough. All it mentions, is that IZI creates a sister hood beyond blood, but it does not refute males being a part of our charter. As president, I have no right to refuse an eligible applicant, but I do reserve the right to choose not to extend an invitation, so we'll just have to see what the house vote on when that time comes.

"Hello Clarissa, how is everything going here?" Now even though we all like our dean, she can still be intimidating. I mean, she's supposed to be I guess, but that doesn't mean it doesn't make me nervous to be within a yard of her.

"It's going well Dean Amatis. We're actually just about done for the day," I smile at her, hoping she decides to leave.

"That's wonderful darling. I have seen a lot of potential pledges, and I just know you will choose wisely!"

"Speaking of potential pledges," Tess starts. "We have a gentleman who would like to pledge for IZI."

"Are you considering?"

"Consideration aside, I have read our rule book and know it like the back of my hand, and it doesn't precisely prohibit a 'male' from signing up," I explain to her.

"Hmmm, I don't know if I'd like that. A boy in a house full of women, this will have to be discussed after I've met him."

"Well you're in luck Dean Amatis, I'm right here," Magnus says cheerily, as he turns around from a conversation he was having with another potential pledge. I didn't even realize he was standing there, this was so not something I wanted to deal with now. "The name's Magnus Bane, it is a pleasure to meet you," he says bowing his head to her.

"Oh, why Mr. Bane, the pleasure is all mine," she says taking him in. "Are you related to-"

"Denarius Bane?" he asks, and she nods. "He would be my grandfather, and CEO of Bane Incorporated."

Wow, that made an impression. Our dean looked absolutely flabbergasted, in a good way. Apparently she realizes she may not be acting very professional at this moment, and quickly clears her throat and straightens her posture.

"Mr. Bane, may I ask why you are interested in pledging for the sorority IZI?"

"Well besides it being one of the top Charters anyone could be a part of, my mother just so happened to be in IZI when she was a young woman."

"I understand those reasonable reasons, but why not a male charter? Why the females? I mean, well," whoa, was our dean conflicted? That's a sight I never thought I'd see.

"Oh, I see. Because I'm a boy. Well would it disturb you that I happen to be attracted to the male population, and to be in a house full of hot, sexy-"

"Oh my, okay then. Well, before we go any further on that topic, if it is within guidelines, you may rush for any sorority that you wish."

"Thank you, I only plan on one! And I'm very excited to become a potential pledge."

"Under the circumstances that you are a pledge, I would appreciate Clary to take you under her wing as her little sister. Does anyone object?" she asks with a look on her face that screams 'GET ME OUT OF HERE NOW.'

"Of course I would. Thank you so much for the opportunity Dean Amatis."

With a quick nod, she turns and walks away. Instead of heading to other booths, I notice she makes her way back toward her office. Crap, what about Issy? I turn to look back towards Alec's booth but he was gone.

"Well, I'll see you ladies around! I cannot wait! And Clary, thank you," he is just so sincere and polite that I'm pretty excited to see where this goes. "I promise to make you a proud big sister." He winks before he turns and leaves.

"This is going to be an INTERESTING year girls," I say as I watch him strut away. He didn't not seem like he would have been gay, he looked so masculine when you looked past the sparkles, and like I mentioned before, could easily be a model. Well, you don't judge a book by its cover, even if the cover makes you blush a little.

"Is there something you aren't telling us?" Maia asks accusingly. Crap, do I tell them about Alec's brother? No. I can't. Can I? They always know when I am hiding something, and I don't want to start the year out keeping things from them, even though I've been keeping mine and Alec's relationship from them for 3 years.

"Well, the thing is, um, I had sort of promised Alec I'd be Issy's big sister if she became a pledge," I say, hoping that they would think that was my only problem.

"Well, that's not really a problem," Tess says to me. "I could do it."

"Really? Great, that'd be great." Crap, I answered too fast. "Hey girls, I told Alec I'd meet him later, do you mind if I go home and get ready?"

"Yeah, we're about done for the day. We'll take care of the booth clean up, you've been doing it all week," Maia replies not noticing my hastiness. Tess gives me a look that says she knows something's up, but she doesn't pry.

"You go ahead Clary," she says smiling. "Oh hey, by the way, are you still going to hold an open mic night tomorrow for a new male singer? Charles called me to confirm this morning.."

"I completely forgot!"

"I know, I took care of everything. The Alphas promised to get their newbie's to sign up, too. So, maybe you should practice with the band tonight while you're over at Alec's."

"I owe you Tess! See you later!"

"Bye!" she and Maia say in unison.

Dag-nammit! Remember I mentioned being in a band, well the some of the Alphas are my band mates. Our male lead singer, Eric, graduated last year, and moved all the way across the country. Now, we aren't the type of band that is looking for fame, fortune, or record deals. We do it for the fun of the parties, and just plain enjoying ourselves, so when a member graduates, we promote from within, which consists of open Mic night for singers within each house, to show their potential, and of course we perform and party throughout the night as well. As much as I'd love to be the famous stand-alone singer (not really), I need a male up on stage with me, one, for duets, and two, so I can get a break. Plus, we like to mix it up a bit, with all boy songs and all girl songs. We use a DJ at some of our parties, but we still perform as well. There are even nights when the owner of our favorite off campus bar, O'Malley's, requests for us to perform. That is the Charlie that called Tess this morning; he always offers to pay us, but we refuse. So what he does do is let us use his place for certain things like open mic night, and he also gives us free drinks whenever we're there, which I can honestly say that I don't mind. Now, I have to sit through my Thursday night rehearsing with the guys and deciding what songs we will allow their guys to perform, and I get to spend my Friday night possibly going deaf from those who shouldn't be up there. Then Saturday starts the process of our pledges, which should be interesting considering our houses newest pledge request.

First, we have to go through the applications and choose about two dozen girls to offer an invitation to, then, if said invitations are accepted, then our new members become a pledge. During our pledge process, our pledges learn about our organization, its history and its values. We have mandated study times, and weekly meetings for events on and off campus. Of course, you don't just become a member after the first 30 days of all that, oh no, we give our pledges an exam on what they've learned throughout that month. Among passing the exam, our rushees are given the opportunity to fully commit to pledging IZI, and moving into the house. Then comes the hazing, which isn't vile or obscene, whatsoever. This year we're requiring our pledges to ask a current member of the Alphas to the sweetheart formal, and their pledges have to ask some of us. Before we'd have them ask each other, but I wanted to spice it up a bit. We have strict rules about flirting or messing with our pledges, although. There is absolutely no sexual content of any sort permitted on either party, such behavior is looked down upon on all those involved, and resorts to expulsion. Now don't get me wrong, we aren't biased to blossoming relationships, but only if the other party consents. The 'sexual content' has to be completely and fully mutual. There will be no taking advantage of a pledge or any other member of either charter, whatsoever. That being said, I'm going to have a busy busy next few weeks ahead of me.

Making it back to the house, I change out of my IZI shirt and shorts, into a pair of yoga pants, and a sports bra. I'm only going to Alec's, plus band rehearsal gets really hot, and I can't take my shirt off if I'm wearing a regular lacey bra, so the only thing to do is wear a sports bra. It's not like I don't wear that during a workout or dance practice, so get over it. Plus if it makes you happy, I put a zip up sweater over it for the time being, so I don't look so desperate! I can't help but realize how nervous I am feeling as I leave my house and head to Alec's, and I know exactly why…..Jace will be there!

When I get there I don't bother knocking, the Alphas and IZI's are pretty close friends with each other.

"Hey Clary, Alec's upstairs!"

"Thanks Simon! Would you mind getting the band together, we have to rehearse for open mic tomorrow…."

"We've actually been ready, we were just waiting on you."

"Oh, well let me put my bag upstairs, and I'll be right back…."

"No prob!"

I head upstairs to Alec's room and when I open the door, I begin to wish I had knocked this time.

"Oh my gosh! I am so sorry!" I slap my hands over my eyes.

"What the-"

"I really didn't mean to-I was looking for Alec-I was told he was –I assumed he'd be-jeez-I'll just-"

"Clary, it's fine. I'm just naked, well I was. You can open your eyes," he says through laughter. "Have you never seen a naked guy or what?"

"That-that, I uh, where's Alec?"

"He's in the shower. He said you were coming by for a rehearsal or something so he wanted to get ready."

"Right, speaking of the rehearsal, I just came up here to leave my bag. I better get going, will you tell him I'm here?"

"Sure," he says staring at me. Oh wow, I feel dizzy. Is the heater on? What the hell is going on? I realize we're standing there staring at each other so I turn to leave. "Clary?" Gosh I love the sound of my name as he says it.

"Yeah?" I respond with my hand on the door knob, not turning around.

"Alec really is a lucky guy, pictures don't do you justice."

"Um, thanks Jace." I shut the door using more force than I should and run down to the garage for rehearsal.

"Ow," Simon yells as I slap him upside his head. "What did I do?"

"You could have told me Alec wasn't alone!" I whisper-yelled at him.

"Uh-Oh…" he looks at me a little confused.

"Forget it Lewis. Let's get started."

I grab my guitar and tune it, then we rock paper scissors for what song we're going to cover. It's only fair that we all get to pick. Sebastian, our drummer won, and chose _Burning up from Just Surrender_. They all put on their headset microphones and I move to stand in front of mine, and we begin. I get lost in the song and when my guitar solo comes up I finally open my eyes, and of course the whole frat house and a few people passing by are giving us an audience. I usually don't get shy, and actually tune faces out as I sing, but of course Jace has to be RIGHT FREAKIN THERE! The song is done, and one of the Alphas in the crowd yells for me to go acoustic. I like to sing, don't get me wrong, but I like having the noise of the band behind me.

"We are only rehearsing for open mic tomorrow, not for an actual performance," I say to the unknown shouter.

"We should make them go solo onstage too!" Jace says surprising me.

"You aren't even a brother yet. Sorry, but you have no say," I reply trying to keep my goose bumps from making an escape.

"Hey, the kid has potential, plus we've already gave him a bid," Jordan said, he's Maia's boyfriend, and the alphas VP, so I couldn't argue too much with him; even if my argument was for a childish reason, like getting butterflies from my boyfriends brother.

"I mean hey, if you're scared to sing alone, I completely understand!" Jace said biting his bottom lip, and I couldn't tell if my blush was because of that or because I was getting irritated. The little sh*t, does he know what he's doing to me right now?

"Watch it pledge, that's our president's, YOUR president's queen right there. Not to mention, the president of our campus's hottest girls!" shouted Will. He was the secretary of the Alpha's and also dating my bestie Tess.

Jace, either ignoring the comment or not caring about what Will's warning, just stood there staring me down. He was challenging me, the little punk had the nerve to challenge me!

"Fine, what do you suggest Jace? The list of our music is right there. All acoustics are on page 8," I tell him with a little more attitude than I needed to. "Pick a song pledge." He opens our music book as I switch out my electric guitar for my acoustic one.

"How about _So Much, by the Spill Canvas_?"

"Up to you, I'm not biased…."

"Then let's get started," he says smiling at me.

I stand at the mic and start singing softly. Of course it's a guy's song, so I change a few lyrics as I'm going.

Getting to the end, I steal a glance at Jace, and I can't take my eyes off of him. When the song's over, he's still staring at me, but I finally find the strength to turn away.

"You guys started without me here?" Alec says walking into the garage. He walks straight to me, ignoring everyone else in the room and picks me up while hugging me. When he sets me down, he plants a kiss on my lips, actually more of a peck.

"Oh come on! We don't want this kind of show!" Jordan says, and the entire group bursts into laughter.

"Watch it bud, that's my sister in law you're talking to," Issy says appearing out of nowhere. "But I have to agree, I came for a show, so let's get to it!" She makes her way over to stand near Jace, who looks a little upset as he watches Alec and me. I look around at the guys and realize they aren't even paying attention to us anymore, but they're all staring at Issy.

"Boys, you are not fish, close your mouths!" I tell them slowly, in case their minds are fuddled by her hotness. That brought around another round of laughter, and we got back to rehearsing. We ended it with about 6 songs for the singers to choose from, 2 being acoustic as Jace suggested, and closed out our night with _Bartender by Lady Antebellum._

"Oh my gosh, Clary, you are amazing!" Issy exclaims as the guys begin to pack up the instruments.

"Thank you, but I'm really not that great without these guys."

"Oh please I heard your acoustic from down the street and it was amazing! Wasn't she amazing Jace?" I didn't even realize he was still here, everyone else had gone back inside the house, I was sure he followed the crowd.

"She was pretty amazing," he says looking right at me. Why was he doing this? Does he know how he's making me feel?

"Thank you guys really. Oh, how rude of me, Issy this is Simon, he's on bass, that's Sebastian, he's our drummer, and on the keyboard over here is Meliorn. Guys this is Isabelle, Alec's sister," they all make their way to her and shake her hand, when someone (and by someone, I mean Jace) clears his throat. "Oh and this is Jace, Alec's brother."

"Clary, I hate to ask, but would you mind if I bunked with you for a couple days? There isn't an available dorm, and I don't want to stay in the same room as my brothers."

"Of course, just have the girls show you to my room and put your stuff wherever you want. I'm going to be here for a while. I have to talk to Alec and go over a few things with the band. But please, make yourself at home."

"I wouldn't tell her that," Jace says laughing.

"Shut it Jace. And thanks so much Clary!" She hugs me and leaves. Sometime during that small conversation, the band cleared out leaving Jace and me in the garage alone.

"You know, you were really amazing. You have a beautiful voice," he says softly to me. Does this garage have a heater? I think I need to get checked for asthma, because I'm really finding it hard to breathe right now. We just stand there staring into each other's eyes, and I can see something in his that makes me want to put my arms around him again. No, this can't happen, we could never happen. I don't feel this way about guys, well I never have. Ugh, damn the hummingbirds in my stomach!

"Jace, I'm not sure-I don't know-you see-" what if I'm just jumping to conclusions here. He might look at everyone like that, and I could be taking it wrong because I'm the only one that's attracted here. But he is looking at me very intensely, and I really don't know what to do about it.

"I'm really sorry, I shouldn't be doing that," he says looking away from me.

"Doing what?" I try to sound as innocent as possible, but now I'm curious.

"It's just, I've heard so much about you, and I've seen the pictures of you that my parents have and that Alec's posted of you, and everyone in the house has always talked about you before, and even more now, and it just feels like I've sort of come to know you too, in a weird way. I remember you from when we were kids, and I was always too shy to play with you guys because you were there. And now, I finally meet you again, and wow. I mean, I've never, I mean, well uh…You're just really beautiful, and I know it's wrong, and you're my brother's girlfriend, and-"

"Jace," I whispered cutting off his rant. "Stop, please. I have to go."

I run past him and up the stairs into Alec's room. He bolts up from his bed as I slam the door shut behind me. I slide down the door and land on the floor with my knees pulled up to my chest, taking deep breaths.

"Clary, what the hell? Are you okay?"

"We have a problem Alec, a big problem."

He moves to sit next to me at my place on the floor. "What is it?"

"It's Jace."

"Was he an ass to you, because I told him if he doesn't act right towards you, we'd have problems."

"What do you mean?"

"Jace isn't very nice to girls. He makes snide or rude comments to pretty much any girl. Sometimes I wonder if it's cause he's gay, but he isn't. He's had the occasional girlfriend, but from what he's told me, he just doesn't want to fully invest in any of them. He always complains about not connecting with anyone."

"Oh," I didn't know what to think of that. Did he have commitment issues or something?

"So what did he do?"

"He called me beautiful," I tell him, watching his reaction.

"Oh no. Someone called you beautiful, how dare they?" he said laughing at me.

"It's not just that, it's the way he said it, in fact it was everything he said that led up to that."

"What did he say?"

"More of a rant, really."

"My brother doesn't rant, and HE of all people doesn't use the word beautiful, it's not in his vocabulary." Realization suddenly washed over him and Alec stood and began to pace the room. "No, no, no. Clary, what are we going to do? This can't happen, I can't lose you. What will everyone think? Oh, gosh! Maybe if we tell him, we can fix this. But that's going to make him want you even more. Maybe we can stage a break up, and we don't have to tell him. No, but then he wouldn't stoop so low as to dating his brother's ex girlfriend. Maybe if he knew, we could get him in on the breakup. Wait, what if Issy-"

"Alec, is ranting a family trait? Please sit down!" I tell him as I stand back up.

"We aren't doing any of that. We are going to continue on with what we've been doing, and not let any of this impact us okay?"

"I can't do that to you Clary, it'd be selfish of me. I saw how you looked at him today when you first met. Hell, I saw how he looked at you. I was hoping it was my imagination, but you two have that whole _love at first sight_ kind of chemistry."

"Alec, I can't-"

"You can and we will figure something out I promise."

"Thank you!" I say realizing that Alec was right, there is something there. It may not be love, hell, I don't know what it is, but I want to find out. I need to find out.

He stands up and walks over wrapping me in his arms, when his door suddenly opens.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Jace says turning to leave.

"Jace, wait, can we talk?" Alec says to him.

**What do you think should happen? Should they come clean right away, or should we let their secret relationship play out a little longer? I will let you guys decide; I have an idea either way…..Thank you so much for reading! Goodnight and XO**


	3. Chapter 3

**BIG THANKS TO MY WONDERFUL FOLLOWERS, FAVORITE-ER'S AND REVIEWERS! THIS ONE IS FOR YOU! **

CH 3

"Hold on a second. So what you're telling me, is that your relationship is basically a cover-up because your," he paused. "Gay?" he whispered.

"That's exactly what we're telling you," I say feeling a little annoyed and flushed at the same time. I was sitting in the middle of Alec's bed, while he was standing; leaning against the wall and Jace was sitting in the armchair next to the bed.

"Well, that makes sense….." he said thoughtfully.

"Excuse me?" I ask at the same time that Alec says "what does?"

"Alec, come on man, I've known you my whole life."

"I'm still not following," Alec replies.

"Look, you may not look the part, and you aren't all flamboyant, but we've all kind of known. Why do you think mom and dad were overly excited about you having a girlfriend? Which, I may add, that Issy and I were surprised as hell."

"You aren't going to say anything right?" Alec asked worried.

"Of course I wouldn't. Come on, I wouldn't ever do that," Jace says, standing from the arm chair and giving Alec one of those bro hugs. I used their distraction of brotherly bonding and slipped out of the room to go home.

Well, we just told Jace that our relationship is a fluke because Alec wanted to hide his sexuality. Jace, I have to admit, took it rather well. Now, I'm left to wonder what Alec plans to do next. I mean, yeah, we let the cat out of the bag to one person, but does Alec plan on keeping up appearances or was Jace the first step to coming clean to everyone? If he does come clean, I hope he leaves our "fake" relationship out of his confession. I can handle my Ex leaving me because he realizes he doesn't quite play for my team any longer, but I don't know if I could handle being the girl who FAKED a relationship with a guy for over 2 years. Even if it was to help him hide his true self. I just don't know what any of this means yet, maybe I should have stayed to talk more about this with Alec, but being in that enclosed room with Jace was causing my body to overheat.

"Clary!" Speak of the devil. I turn around to face him as he's lightly jogging towards me.

"Hey Jace," I attempted to sound indifferent, as if hearing him say my name didn't cause my body to tingle, but I'm sure I failed.

"Why'd you take off like that?"

"I just wanted to give you guys some alone time. I'm sure you have a lot of questions for Alec," I say shrugging.

"Not as many as I have for you…." He said it so quietly that I almost didn't hear him.

"Do you now?" I ask, curious as to whether he'll understand about why I did what I did, or accuse me using his brother. "Ask away."

We started walking toward my house, which wasn't too far down the street. I can feel the damn hummingbirds fluttering in my stomach, making me anxious and nervous all at once…Now that he knew, would he still say sweet things to me, or was he only interested because he thought I was taken; making me a challenge for him? Alec did mention that he didn't invest his time in girls.

"Well first off, how did it start?"

"You mean us dating? Didn't Alec tell you?"

"Yes, but I want to hear it from you."

"Well, when we were pledges, our 2 houses threw their annual first formal to celebrate us becoming members. By that time, he and I were already attached at the hip. We hung out every day since we'd first seen each other. I really did like him at the time. It was no surprise to anyone when he said yes to be my date. Anyhow, the formal was when it happened; we were crowned 'Pledge King and Queen'. While we were on stage, Alec turned to me, kneeling down and asked me to be his sweetheart-not girlfriend, but it was one in the same. I've never really had a boyfriend so-"

"Wait, what?" he asks laughing. I would glare at him, if I didn't enjoy the sound of it so much.

"Yes, Alec is/was technically my first boyfriend," I stated sighing. "Stop laughing," I demand, but playfully. "Excuse me if I've always given my education my undivided attention! Can I finish now?"

"Yeah, sorry," he said as his laughter began to die down. "Sorry."

"Whatever, anyway, where was I? Oh right-so, I decided in that moment that I wouldn't mind having a boyfriend. Well that, and the fact that everyone was watching us. After a few months, a peck on the lips became a peck on the cheek, his embrace became more of leaning into each other's sides, and well, as far as cuddling, we never really did that to begin with. When we were about a month or so away from spring break, I finally came to the decision that maybe we should just break up. I was pretty conflicted because Alec really is an amazing guy, and he wasn't a huge distraction from school like I always expected a boyfriend to be. But, I asked him to meet me at O'Malley's, and began to give him the break-up speech. I told him that we were growing apart and I just felt that he wasn't interested any longer. When I got up to leave, he stopped me and confessed everything. He kept apologizing, saying he was trying his hardest to not be the way he was and the next thing I knew, he was crying. I couldn't leave his side, and after talking it out with him, I came up with the idea of keeping up appearances, which he agreed. And, well, you know the rest."

"So were you ever in love?"

"No, but I do love Alec dearly."

"What do you guys plan to do now?" I gave him a sideways glance, and he was giving me that intense stare that he's so good at.

"Well, I'm going to support him in whatever decision he decides to make," I respond, shrugging. "Jace, can I ask you something?"

"I'm an open book," he says smiling at me. I rub my arms even though it isn't cold, but I'm trying to rub away the goosies he's giving me.

"Does this make me a bad person? You know, lying to all of my friends, my family…your family?"

"At first, I thought you were using him when you guys began to tell me, but now, I think you're an amazing friend. So no, you're not a bad person, not in the least."

"Do you think Issy's going to hate me for lying to her?"

"Nah, she'll know you're doing it for Alec, even if she gets a little upset at first; it won't be at you."

"What about your parents? Oh wow, they are going to really hate me," I say as I put my face in my hands. Jace gently grabs both of my wrists in one hand and pulls them down.

"Hey," he says worriedly. "Will you look at me?" I keep my head down while I respond to him.

"I don't know why we didn't think this through; all of the people it may effect." He tilts my face to his and I realize his touch is sending tingles throughout my whole body.

"Listen to me, I strongly believe that there isn't one person in the world who could possibly hate you," he whispers. "Like I said before, I may not know you personally, but I really feel like I do. Clary you are such a good person, and a great friend; from what I have heard, to what I now see with my own eyes. I'd really like to get to know you better, to have a friend like you," my heart dropped a little; I thought we had a connection, but maybe I was wrong. "Maybe even….." he trailed off, not wanting to finish.

"Thank you Jace. I guess I don't feel too bad anymore," I reply smirking at him. I turn away and out of his grasp that I was still in. I look around and realize we're a couple blocks past my house. "Oh my, looks like we weren't paying attention," I laugh lightheartedly.

"You mean you weren't. I had no idea where we were supposed to be going," he states Jokingly. We turn around and head back towards my house. We walk in a comfortable silence, but I miss the sound of his voice, so I spark up another conversation.

"So, do you plan to join the football team?"

"Yeah, that and swim."

"Swim? Really? I didn't know you swim." Actually I didn't know much about him at all, except the few things I've heard.

"I'm not the best, but I'm not too shabby."

"Well then, I'll make sure you're given a fair tryout to make sure of that."

"What are you, like the captain?" he laughs.

"Actually, yes, I am."

"Wait, hold up…..Your the president of your sorority, you sing in a band, play electric and acoustic guitar-"

"And the keyboard and piano too."

"Okay then-now you're captain of the swim team? What else?" he asks in disbelief.

"Captain of the cheer/dance squad, the first JUNIOR as president of Iota Zeta Iota, I make the Dean's list constantly, I _was_ head of IAU's debate team, but I handed the reigns over due to scheduling conflicts, and I'm the events coordinator for IZI and the Alphas."

"Whoa, Alec wasn't joking- you are extremely involved in school and extracurricular activities. It's amazing you even had time for a, you know, _relationship._"

"Yeah, well, Alec isn't an attention whore, so he makes things a little easier, seeing as we don't do the things other couples dwell on."

"So-"

"Here we are-home sweet home," I say gesturing to the house before us.

"Wow, this is nice-almost as big as-"

"Just as big, if not bigger than the Alpha house," I cut him off sarcastically, which makes him do that beautiful laugh again.

"Well, see you tomorrow then?"

"Maybe, I have morning classes and then I'm going to be extremely busy later, but-"

"Open mic, right?" I nod. "Right, so I'll see you there."

"Are you going to go, or going to try out?" I ask suspiciously.

"Wait and see. Oh and by the way-you left this," he says as he hands over my messenger bag that I didn't even notice was strapped around his chest. I take it from him, thanking him politely. "Bye Clary."

"Bye." I watched him leave and made my way to my room to shower and sleep.

I was exhausted today. I couldn't sleep a wink last night, thinking about what Jace said. He seemed so interested, but then he said he would like to friends with me. Then he almost added more, but didn't and I just kept thinking about what he was possibly going to say. This is why I didn't waste time on guys; they take your mind off of what's important, like school!

Now here I am at O'Malley's finishing up with the stage. The place is crowded, and pretty loud. We had a list of who all signed up for the auditions, but I didn't see Jace's name on it and was slightly disappointed. I didn't even see him amongst the crowd. I wonder what he did today, whether he had a good day or not; STOP CLARY! You see, guys will do that to you! Make you wonder ever so much about them and their days! I tap the mic earning the crowd's attention, explaining the process of how this all works. We changed up the rules a bit at the last minute. The singers are to choose one song from our list and if they don't get boo-ed, they get to play a song of their choice after everyone else has gone, but that song has to be done _acoustic_ style. We were going to have 2 acoustic songs on the list but decided that just because you can sing one way, you may not be able to another. We start the party off by performing the first song. I'm not going to lie; sometimes the people auditioning really are that horrible, so to keep everyone interested, we perform in between every couple contestants. We open with _Panic at the Disco's, The Ballad of Mona Lisa. _Our entire band voices the lyrics together, giving the song that little special effect it needs. I do most of the solo parts, them joining in mostly at the chorus and runs.

The song is over too soon and we begin our first round of contestants. Unfortunately, every single one of them were boo-ed. It was time to please the crowd again, and we did _Go Radio's, Rolling in the Deep (Adele cover)_. I loved her song, but I liked Go Radio's version much better. This next round of contestants wasn't as bad. We put 4 out of the 6 on the list to go solo. The funny thing about this round is that they all chose the same song to perform, _Between the Trees', Words._ Our next run we decided to slow it down a bit with _Straylight Run's, The Perfect Ending. _I couldn't help but think of my situation with Alec on this one, and my emotion showed through the music as clear as crystal. By the time it was over, my eyes landed right on Jace as he watched me. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hoping for him to show because I really was. The next few performers went and only 2 out of the 6 made the solo round this time. Our next song was requested by Jordan, my friend Maia's boyfriend, and I knew he must have upset her again. Sometimes guys just don't think, I swear. Luckily it's one of my favorites. So we play _Secondhand Serenades, Fall for You,_ and I make sure to let Maia know it's for her before we began. I didn't want anyone thinking I was singing to another girl, no matter how beautiful the song. After the last round went, none making it, we are getting ready to start the acoustic round when Jace suddenly runs up on stage, huddling with the band. I had no idea what was going on, but they seemed to, so I just sat back and watched him begin. I was amazed as he performed _Taking Back Sunday's, MakeDamnSure._

From the cheers and looks around the crowd, we may have found our next band member, but we did still have our acoustic round, and who knew if he'd be able to manage that. After his performance was over, we began our second round with 7 contestants ready to go. I didn't find any of them appealing, probably because I was awaiting Jace's turn. And of course he blew it out of the water with another favorite _Secondhand Serenades, Never Too Late, _that he performed on the keyboard. I noticed that he changed up a few of the lyrics, but kept the chorus the same. Regardless, he did an awesome job! We closed up the night with _No Doubt's, Sweet Escape, & Paramore's, Misery Business. _We promised to have an answer of who made the band by morning, and partied the rest of the night to the Dj's music.

The nice thing about O'Malley's was that it was within walking distance to Greek Row, the neighborhood that housed our campus's fraternity and sorority houses. I ended up being the last to leave since I wanted to help out with the clean up, which I did every time, unless of course I couldn't.

I began to make my way down the street towards my neighbor hood when Jace was suddenly there.

"Hey, mind some company?" he asked.

"Sure. What are you still doing here?"

"I was helping out in the back, just finished unloading some crates into the cellar. Now I'm here with you," he says smiling.

"Oh, thank you, for helping."

"Not a problem. Hey, you were really good tonight."

"Thank you, you aren't so bad yourself. Tomorrow, we'll count up the votes and let you all know who made it."

"Think I stand a chance?"

"I'm not too sure…. It's going to be a tough decision."

We began to laugh and talked the rest of the way. We mostly discussed our hobbies and pet peeves. Even though his presence still made my body heat up, and goosies rise on my skin, I found comfort in the feeling. In fact I didn't want to go without it.

"So if you pass your Pledge exam, do you have an idea of who you want to ask to the formal?"

"Well, I'm not too sure. There's this one girl I've had my eyes on, but she's in a relationship." I felt a pang of disappointment hearing he was interested in another girl, but who am I kidding, he's a guy.

"You should still ask her, but just keep in mind, she has the chance to turn you down. I believe the only unavailable girls are Maia, Tessa, Aline, and Kaelie. They're all going with their boyfriends."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Yeah, you named the girls who aren't available, but left yourself out."

"Well, Alec and I will probably go, but I perform most of the night anyway. Plus I'm responsible to organize the event too, so I won't have much time for my date."

"Unless your date helps you with the event, and is up on stage performing with you. Then you'd pretty much be together the entire time right?"

"Alec helps with the event, among a few members-the Pledges are required to help though. But he's not in the band. Sebastian's with Kaelie, I'm going to have a pledge ask Simon and Mel, but none of them really help with the decorating, or organizing; they stick to the band responsibilities only. So, no. I don't see myself sticking with a date the entire time." He suddenly came to a halt, so I stop to look back at him.

"Okay, I know I'm not an actual Pledge yet, but, if I pass, and I make the band, will you consider being my date?" Was he, he seemed-he is! He is nervous, his usual confident façade has slipped, and he's now looking at me waiting for an answer.

"You can't ask me like that…. You have to do it in front of everyone, at the party we host after the exam. But, if you're serious, I won't say no. Of course, because I have a boyfriend technically, you have to get his permission first."

"My goodness, you guys make this so difficult," he says chuckling.

"Well, life's not easy now is it," I say looking at him.

"It feels easier when I'm looking into your eyes," he says softly.

Jace suddenly grabs my hand and pulls me close to him. We are standing near a large oak tree, obscured from the naked eye by it's shadows, and still a few houses down from the first Greek home that starts Greek row. His other hand suddenly goes to the back of my neck, his fingers splayed into my hair. Before I could register what he was doing he leans forward, but stops millimeters from my lips.

"Can I kiss you?" he whispers. Unable to take the tension any longer, I snake one arm around his neck and the other under his arm that's at my neck and pull him in. To say it was magical is an understatement; it was beyond words. I feel like my body was on fire, his touch was so warm against my skin, and I wanted so much more. We eventually pull apart, and stare into each other's eyes; neither of us wanting to move. "I don't know what's going to happen with you and Alec, but I do know that I want to be the one to be there for you no matter what. I can't fight what I'm feeling towards you, and I know we literally just met yesterday, but I've had the biggest crush on you since we were kids."

"Jace, I-"

"You don't have to say anything, just know that you have me, okay?"

"Okay." I can't wipe the stupid grin off of my face, and it's seems as though he can't either. Did that really just happen? Oh crap, what did I just do?

"Clary?"

"Hmm?"

"What are you thinking about?"

"You," he gives me a look wanting me to go on. "I just, I don't know what this is; I'm not sure what to expect with you."

Please lemme know how you all like the story so far! Does anyone of u believe in love at first sight? I do, or else I wouldn't have married the guy! Lol unlike my other story, this one isn't pre written, I write it as I post it. Sooo if u guys wanna give me some ideas, im open to them! Thank so much for the support! XO ㈵6


	4. Chapter 4

I still couldn't get a grip on reality. Jace kissed me-he actually KISSED me! What the hell was wrong with him? I barely knew him, did he not think that was a little too fast? okay,so I was more than attracted to him, but seriously, I was somewhat with Alec. even if he is gay, i had an image to uphold. After jace walked me home last night, I felt guilty heading to room. Issy was already asleep, which I was happy about. I wanted to talk to Alec so badly, but I knew jace would be there. I couldn't face either of them, not yet. I did everything in my power to avoid having to go to the Alphas house today, I even skipped out on the band vote. I told the guys I trusted their judgment and let them handle it. Now I'm working on our sorority invites with the girls. issy was already given hers and she accepted.

"Okay, I'm not sure if this is unorthodox of me, but I want to give that guy Magnus an invite," Maia says suddenly.

"I don't know about that," Tessa adds. "Clary? What do you think?"

"You guys can't be serious! Really-a guy?" Kaelie shrieks at us. We take in the opinions of all the ladies in the house, but us three actually control what happens.

I wasn't sure what to think. I did like what I seen in him, especially the way he charmed our dean. I jut knew there was more to him though, and he really did seem like he'd make a great friend.

"I'm going to go with yes," I say thoughtfully. Most of the girls' expressions looked indifferent, all except kaelie, who looked pissed. But what's done is done, that was the last of our invites and now all that was left was to see if the rushees would accept and show up to the party tonight.

"Okay ladies, time to get these out and prep for tonight. I'm calling a close to this meeting," I announce as I bang the gavel And hand the invites to the girls responsible for passing them on.

"So clary," issy says falling in step with me towards our room. "What are you planning on wearing tonight?"

"oh, you'll see."

as soon as we enter the room she gasps at the little black number laying across my bed."I thought we had to wear white?" She asks looking confused.

"Pledges wear white, the house members wear black," I explain to her.

"I never thought to join a sorority back in California, but I'm really wishing I had. This is going to be so fun! I don't think Alec will be able to keep his hands off of you in that!" She smiles and heads to the bathroom for a shower.

I sigh as I lay across my bed contemplating the events of last night again. It only made me more nervous for tonight because the alphas are suppose to show up for the party we are hosting. Of course it won't be until after their pledges who accepted their bids arrive at their place first.

"Clary, we need to talk!" Before I could sit up Alec bursts into the room with jace hot on his heels. I felt my face flare up in fear and embarrassment. What is he going to think? I don't want to let Alec down. He's my best friend, and I wanted to be here for him! Now he was probably pissed at me, and I didn't know how to react.

"Alec, please-"

"when did u plan to tell me?"

"It just happened,please just hear me out." I couldn't believe jace was just standing there not saying anything. What a jerk, and here I thought he was so sweet. when his eyes meet mine he slightly shakes his head which really throws me for a loop.

"why didn't you tell me that you were planning on pledging a guy?" Looking back at Alec now, i can see fear in his eyes. "A hot one at that," he whispers.

"Wait what?" I wasn't expecting that.

"Kaelie called seb freaking out, and of course she was on speaker so we all heard it."

"Oh, are they all upset?"

"actually no. He told her to keep an open mind. That it wasn't a big deal and to relax.". He lay next to where I was sitting as he spoke. Jace was leaning against my door that he was wise enough to close as soon as they first entered. We looked at each other and i could see a glint of humor in his eyes. Then we both turned to Alec who covered his eyes with an arm.

"Magnus Bane-he's in my all but one of my classes so faR. And a very big distraction for me. Now I have to deal with him here?" His question is rhetorical, but I respond anyway.

"Alec, it's going to be o-"

"you don't get it clary, you don't know what it's like to blush every time you look at someone. You haven't felt a physical attraction to someone who causes goosebumps to rise all over you just for being in the same room as them." he's looking at me and I know he's right, well he WAS right. I didn't know the feeling, at least until jace came along. "Who's his big sister?" I bit my bottom lip remembering what our dean said about allowing Magnus to pledge, her one request.

"I am," I said quietly. Alec groaned and threw a pillow over his head yelling into it.

"Alec, come on man. it won't be so bad. You saw how the guys reacted. They're not going to shun you because you like a guy," jace finally spoke up. "Maybe this will be good for you."

"He's not their president or team captain. They're going to get all weird around me, and probably want to kick me out!"

"Alec, we won't know for sure until we -" I started but was cut off.

"Clary, please. you know how hard this is for me." I was speechless. He was in such a denial that he didn't want to see things another way.

"I got an idea, why don't I pretend to be gay, and we can see how they would really treat a member that plays for the other team?"

alec looked at jace and then to me unsure how to respond. I wasn't sure either, I doubt they'd buy it but we won't know until we tried.

"I guess we could try that, but are you sure? What if you end up attracted to one of clarys sisters?" Alec asked accusingly.

" I only got my eyes on one IZI but she's taken, so I can't do anything about it right now. Plus this may score me some points with her," he says winking at me. Alec, who is oblivious to our interaction thinks about the offer jace has given him.

"Well, i guess it can't hurt to try," he says doubtfully.

"Well if we're going to go through with this then we have to tell issy," jace replies.

"Why?" I ask.

"She knows I'm not in any way into guys," he states.

"He'a right clary. Issy should know-"

"I should know what?" Issy askd exiting the bathroom.

**I'm so sorry for the late update and the short chapter! Lots going on in life! I will try to update another as soon as I can. I hope u enjoyed it! XO ㈳3**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey readers! So, I'm really sorry for making you all wait so long for the last chapter! I hope me updating 2x in one week will make up for it! Also, I just want to put this out there-in my stories I seem to have spelled Isabelle's nickname incorrectly, or rather incorrectly from the way it is in the book…..I'm sorry about this. My daughter's name is Isabelle, and was named after a family member of mine who's passed away many years ago. We spell their nicknames as ISSY instead of IZZY- so naturally when I began my stories, I put the name in here my way; so I'm sorry for the incorrect spelling, in relation to the books. I'm going to continue to spell it that way because I've already started out with it, but if you'd like me to change it to the way the book has it, just review or PM me! Again, my apologies! Please enjoy this chapter! XO**

CH 5

"Issy, we need to talk about something," I start to say.

"Maybe you should sit down," suggested Alec.

She eyed us warily and sat down on the window bench.

"Are you two breaking up?" She asks with a sadness in her eyes that makes me want to hug her.

"Well, actually-"

"Oh gosh Alec," she puts her hands over her mouth in a praying motion as she says breathily.

"Issy, it's not like that. Clary and I technically broke up awhile ago."

"Hold the phone, what are you talking about?"

"We were never together after the spring of our freshman year, but only pretended to be."

"Why would you-how could you? You've both been lying to all this time?" her voice starts to rise.

"Please, just listen-"

"And you, how could you do this Clary? I know we weren't as close as we once were, but this is low even for you! Was it for popularity? Because as far as I can see, it seems like you're using my brother-" she stood up pointing at me with a glare that makes me want to crawl under my bed.

"Isabelle Sophia Lightwood! Calm down, and sit down! Hear me out okay?" Alec moved to stand in front of her.

"Or were you using her? Which is it? I thought I knew you Alec, I didn't think you-"

"Isabelle, I'm gay," he harshly whispered at her.

She fell silent, staring at her brother with wide eyes. She gave me a quick apologetic glance before she wrapped her arms around Alec apologizing over and over for her accusations. Alec finally got her to sit down and quietly explained it all to her. I wasn't sure what her reaction to the news would have been, but speechless was the last thing on my mind.

"Alec, why would you do this? You do know that being gay is not a big thing anymore right? We don't live in the old days, you shouldn't do this to yourself."

"Issy, you don't understand."

"No Alec I don't. Why would you do this? Clary, I appreciate you being there for him, but if you really wanted to be a good friend you wouldn't allow him to live in hiding like this. Alec, it is nothing to be ashamed of!"

"Well, that's another thing we wanted to discuss," Jace spoke for the first time since Issy came into the room.

"Don't even tell me you're-"

"No, I'm not. But I-we want to help Alec by showing him that his brothers won't think any less of him for his sexuality."

"How do you plan on doing that?" she asks confused.

"I'm going to be gay for a day, or for however long it takes for Alec to see that he doesn't have to hide himself."

"And how is that supposed to work in his favor?"

"Well, when he sees that the guys still accept me, it will be easier for him to come out to them. At least we're hoping it will be."

"Ooookaaay, but I don't think that's wise. You're already lying, don't you think a lie on top of a lie would make them doubt you even more so?"

"She's got a point guys," I agree with Issy. The house wouldn't appreciate being lied to, especially from their president. "Why don't we just see how they react with Magnus? I'm sure some are bound to be uncomfortable, but I know for a fact they'll be accepting." I actually wasn't sure, but I don't know what else I can say to him.

"Wait, I got it. Why don't you just tell the truth?" Issy says sarcastically.

"Alec, if we have to, we can just tell the everyth-"

"No, Clary. If I'm going to come out, I'm leaving our relationship out of it. No need to take you down with me. We will however, have to stage a break up."

"Alec-"

"No, Jace. I appreciate your offer, but I can't do that to you or my brothers. If they don't understand then so be it."

"Well we could just say you found yourself attracted to Magnus, and realized that you've been forcing yourself to stay with Clary in denial…." Issy suggested.

"I think we could do that, but can we wait this out? I at least want to get to know Magnus before I throw him in to anything. He may not even be attracted me, and if he isn't then oh well. I am still going to tell them, but later. And thank you both so much for understanding, I don't think I could go through with this without your support."

The three of them go in for a group hug, and all I can do is smile at them. I feel slightly guilty because I'm pretty relieved of the outcome. I was happy his brother and sister were here to support him in a time like this, I only wish they were here much sooner. Or maybe I don't….who am I kidding, this whole debacle was more confusing than a rubix cube.

"Clary, get over here!" Issy says smiling at me as I make my way over to their group hug. Jace and Alec gather me in their free arms and squish me into the middle. "Thank you Clary, for being here for Alec when we couldn't. I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions."

"It's fine. And you are more than welcome."

_*Time jump*_

_Arrival of the Pledges…._

After Alec and Jace left to get ready for the party, Issy offered to do my hair and makeup for our own. We spent the day getting ready and dolling each other up, along with Maia and Tessa. I informed Issy that Tessa would be playing the role of her big sister because the dean requested me to take Magnus under my wing, and she was completely okay with it. We were now downstairs awaiting our arrivals, and I could feel my nerves on edge.

"They're here, they're here!" Aline shrieked.

"Okay ladies. In your positions please," I said calmly.

"Clary," Kaelie whispered. "I want to apologize, I shouldn't have reacted that way this morning." I wasn't sure if I could believe her, but I give her the benefit of the doubt.

"It's alright, but you're going to have to prove yourself on this, okay?" she smiles slightly and nods before taking her stand along the wall of the foyer with all the other girls. Tessa stood and the front step of our stairs, and I was behind her four steps up. Issy had left when we were done getting ready, so she could arrive along with the other pledges. Maia stood at the front door waiting for them to ring the bell and allow them entry.

_Chimes of the doorbell._

"Welcome to Iota Zeta Iota, my name's Maia," she says kindly as she swings the door wide open. "Please come in and announce yourself. Your 'big sister' will approach you with your pledge sash after you say your name."

They begin to file in one by one and I realize that Issy or Magnus aren't amongst them; all of the other invites were here. A series of introductions begin to go around as Maia looks at me and begins to shut the door.

"Wait! So sorry we're late, we had a fashion crisis," Issy says rushing into the foyer with a very handsome Magnus right behind her. He screamed sexy, in his white suit and snakeskin shoes. He was pretty tall, and his black hair slightly sparkled as he turned his head. Underneath his white blazer he wore a white silk shirt that was left unbuttoned enough to reveal his muscular chest. If he wasn't gay, I'd definitely find myself attracted to him. "I'm Isabelle Lightwood," she says waving to everyone.

"It's fine, we're glad you showed up," Tessa says smiling at Issy as she places her big sister sash over her head.

"I'm Magnus Bane, pleasure to meet you all," he says with his silky voice. I make my way over to him while I stare into his beautiful eyes that look more green than yellow today and when he sees my sash, he breaks into a huge grin that reveals a dimple in his left cheek.

"Welcome to IZI Magnus, I'm Clary. I look forward to our journey of you becoming part of our sisterhood." Even though I'm in 6 inch platform wedges, he still has to lean down for me to place the sash over his head. I take a step back and admire the bedazzled black sash that read's _Clary's Little Brother_ with our Greek letters tagged before and after the words. All of the girls around us stared at him in awe, and looked as though they were undressing him with their eyes. He gave me a slight bow of his head and did the same to the group of ladies behind me.

"Okay ladies, please follow me to the back patio for cocktails and meet and greets," I announce making my way to the back of the house.

The introductions went very smoothly, and we all sat around chatting until the Alphas made their grand entrance. Their pledges were in tuxedos, while they dressed casual. And instead of using the front entrance of the house, they came in from the side yards as if they owned the place. Our pledges looked quite shocked at their entrance, not expecting it to be as rowdy as it was. They soon relaxed when we all started to laugh and Maia turned up the music and began to DJ. Before we knew it our party was in full swing, and we were introducing our pledges to each other over the loud music.

"Oh my gosh, I didn't know our house partied like _this!_" Magnus shrieked happily.

"Well, get used to it. I believe you won't have a problem passing our exam and becoming an actual IZI sister," I said loudly over the music.

"Clary, thank you for this chance, I promise to try my best to not let you down. Hey do you-" he stopped as he looked behind me. His confident posture slightly changed to one of shyness. His cheeks blushed before he started talking to me again. "I'm gonna go get us a drink!" he shouted before walking away towards our outdoor wet bar. I was still confused by his sudden change in personality as two strong arms encase me against their chest.

"Where's he going?" Alec said against my ear. I knew we still had to keep up appearances, but it isn't as comfortable as it once was unfortunately. I turn in his arms to face him and place my hands on his chest.

"I dunno, we were talking and he had a thirst that he suddenly needed quenched, I guess."

"You guys wanna get a room?" Jace says with a half smile playing on his lips. I could see in his eyes that he wanted to be the one holding me, and I have to admit that I more than want it to be him too. I take in his tux and my breathing catches in my throat. I'm starting to think that I have a thing for guys in suits because I can't even remember my name right now. "Just kidding Clary, breathe will you?" So he noticed my reaction, but apparently and thankfully misunderstood it.

"You clean up nicely Jace," I try to sound calm, but I could feel my ears burning with embarrassment for staring at him.

"Wish I could say the same for you, but you are always divine, aren't you?" he says as he winks at me and before I have time to react, the noise of feedback blares throughout the yard.

"Hey, how's everyone doing tonight?" Simon says into the microphone. He gets a lot of cheering and screaming from the crowd in response. "Alright so as you know, we held auditions for a new member last night at O'Malley's and today we tallied all of our votes!" There were more hoots and hollers as he raised an envelope in the air to show the crowd. "Can we please have our very own Clary Fray up here to do the honors?" I'm gonna kill him, and by the look of fear in his eyes, he knows it. I may perform for my fellow students, but I do not like being _summoned_ to the stage.

I walk through the crowd as they move out of the way for me and as soon as I reach the stage Alec lifts me up effortlessly by my waist. I grab hold of Simon's hand for balance, and he mouths an _I'm sorry _as he hands me the envelope.

"Alright, are you all ready for this?" I announce as they start chanting the names of the guys who were in the vote. The majority were yelling out Jace's name of course. "I hope the winner knows the song we're about to do! Because…." I pause opening the envelope, "Jace, you're leading us!" With the uproar of noise we had, you'd have thought there was an actual super star here. They all clear a path for him to get to the stage and he leaps on it with ease. "You ready to perform _SecondHand Serenade's, Animal?_" I ask still speaking into the microphone.

"I'm yours to command!" I replies smiling at me.

He performs the song with ease, and the band and I join during the chorus and runs as usual. The crowd went crazy for him, his voice was amazing, and he knew every damn word as if he'd written it himself. After the performance, Maia and Jordan continued to DJ the party and everyone went back to dancing.

"So, seeing as we're in the band together, I'm assuming we will be spending quite a bit of time together?" Jace says in my ear as the guys descend the 6 stage steps that there were.

"Actually, no. Only once a week, unless we have a party than its 2x a week," I reply smugly.

"I want to kiss that smirk off your face so badly right now." I can't help but blush at his comment because it reminds me of his soft lips on mine the night before.

"I need to go find Alec," I blurt unsure of how I'm supposed to respond to him.

"Well I'll go with you, seeing as he's my big brother. Hey where's your little sis?"

"I think I'm going to call him my little brother, just cause he's gay doesn't make him a girl," I reply to him. "Look he's right over there." I point out Magnus and see Jace's eyes widen.

"Oh wow, between Alec and me, I didn't think anyone else could compete in the looks department. He's definitely not what I expected," he was still staring at Magnus as he spoke.

"Hmm, maybe you guys should vie for his affections," I suggest elbowing his ribs.

"I don't want his affections, nor anyone else's here."

"Oh, that's too bad." I pout playfully. "And there's so much potential surrounding us. You'd have your pick of the litter."

"I already have my sights set on only one lady here. Her affection is the only one that matters to me," he smiles softly as my hearts threatens to stop beating. I remind myself to inhale than exhale and turn away abruptly.

"Well I hope she doesn't let you down," I say as I walk towards Alec leaving Jace to follow me a few steps behind.

"Hey, come here, I want to introduce you to my little brother!" I shout to him as soon as I get in hearing distance. I grab his hand and pull him to where Magnus is standing. Surprisingly, he wasn't with any of the sorority sisters, but surrounded by our band and some of the other Alphas.

"Hey boys, I see you've met Magnus," I say entering the middle of their circle. "Magnus, this is Alec Lightwood, my boyfriend." I gesture towards Alec who looks a little uncomfortable and when I turn back to Magnus his face seems to have visibly paled.

"Oh, you're boyfriend. I had no idea he was-you were with someone," he stutters a little with his voice slightly shaky. "Pleasure to meet you, Alec," he bows his head to him.

"We were just telling Magnus here that he should have rushed for our house," Meliorn announced.

"Well I like to surround myself with beautiful women; it enhances my own beauty," Magnus joked. The guys were so comfortable with him and it made me wish Alec would just come out already. We stood there a little while longer while they all joked and got to know each other.

As the party died down, the pledges all cleaned up the mess around the yard. Well they did as best they could seeing as they were all pretty drunk. When they were done Alec and I along with Issy and Jace walked them all back to their dorms. The pledges weren't allowed to room in the house until after exams, so until then we, as presidents, were responsible to make sure they got to their current homes (dorms) safely. Issy and Jace came along for the fun of it and because they were staying with Alec and me anyway.

"I'd say tonight was a success?" Alec asked as soon as we began to head back to Greek Row after dropping off the last pledge.

"You bet," I reply.

"Are all the parties like tonight?" Issy asked.

"No-they're bigger. Tonight was just our 2 houses, our other parties consist of a majority of Greek Row."

Jace lets out a low whistle.

"Wow….this is going to be amazing isn't it?"

"It's been fun so far, right Clary?"

"More than you know."

"You guys wanna race back?" Jace cuts in.

"Have you not seen our shoes?" Issy looks at him as if he grew another head.

"I'm with Issy on this one, my feet are starting to ache."

"Alec, want to?"

"I can't leave them behind."

"We don't have to..You and me, with them on our backs."

"You're on….but I get Issy, no offense Clary, but your fear of heights nearly caused me to pass out the last time I gave you a piggy back ride," Ales says laughing.

"Wow, what a gentleman. Thanks Alec."

"Alright get on ladies."

Alec and Jace crouch in front of us and we climb on. After the mark, set, go, we're shrilling with laughter as they race back to our houses.

**Hey, so let me know what you think! Give me some ideas on what you would like to see happen! And if I like your ideas, I will do my best to incorporate it within the story! Good night my dears! XO**


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